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Ukraine: Upcoming peace talks hosted by Kazakhstan

Talks on peace and de-escalation appear to be in progress between Kiev, Separatists, Russia, and the EU. Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France will speak over the phone on January 9 as the first step in a collaborative effort to stop violence in eastern Ukraine and reach a political solution. The phone conference will discuss the preparation for a large set of peace talks, tentatively scheduled for January 15 in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. This reveals last month’s purpose in talks between Nazarbayev and Poroshenko, but questions remain, as premiers remain largely standoffish on substantive issues related to Ukrainian financial solvency, and transportation of oil and gas to key end markets throughout Europe.

Famed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny has cut off his house-arrest bracelet in a show of defiance of the Russian government after his brother Oleg was sentenced to three years in prison last week. Navalny’s own sentence remains suspended at 3 and a half years, pending appeal of the conviction. Navalny has claimed that it is illegal to keep someone under house arrest post-conviction.

Russia’s 2014 oil output was the highest since Soviet days, averaging some 10.58 million barrels per day, rising by 0.7 percent year-on-year, in recently released data from the Energy Ministry. Oil and gas production hit its record in December. Exports to China in particular reached a new high of 22.6 million tons, or roughly 452,000 bpd, up some 43% from last year as Russia looks to diversify its customer base.